The breeding male Cape May Warbler is a stunner — bright yellow below with dense black "tiger" streaks, a chestnut cheek patch, and a yellow neck spot — reflected in its scientific name tigrina. It has an unusual tongue among warblers, semitubular and curled, adapted for sipping nectar and juice, which lets it feed at flowers and even fruit in ways most warblers cannot. On its tropical wintering grounds it often visits flowering trees and takes nectar readily.
The Cape May Warbler is closely tied to outbreaks of spruce budworm, a caterpillar of northern conifer forests; in years when budworm is abundant, the birds raise large families and their numbers surge, then fall again as the outbreak subsides. It breeds in the spruce forests of the far north, including parts of the Upper Peninsula, and most Michiganders see it as a passage migrant. Like the Magnolia and Blackburnian, the name comes from a migration specimen — the species does not nest at Cape May.
Feeds heavily on caterpillars, especially spruce budworm, gleaned from conifers in the breeding season, and its numbers rise and fall with budworm outbreaks. Its specialized curled tongue also lets it take nectar and fruit juice, an unusual ability among warblers, especially in winter.
No. It was named from a specimen collected there during migration, and for many years it was rarely recorded at Cape May again. It actually breeds in northern spruce forests.
It specializes on spruce budworm caterpillars when they are abundant. During budworm outbreaks the birds raise large broods and become common; between outbreaks their numbers drop sharply.
It has a semitubular, curled tongue adapted for taking nectar and fruit juice, so it visits flowers and sap in ways most warblers cannot, especially on its tropical wintering grounds.
Immatures and fall females are dull gray-olive with fine streaking and only a hint of yellow on the neck sides. The greenish rump patch and very thin, slightly curved bill still give them away.
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